A Walk In The Park
by NerdyWriterGirl
Summary: After a long day of ghost hunting, Danny stops at the park to think. Maddie, after waking up to her husbands snoring, goes to the park to look at the stars. Secrets may be reviled... or they may not. Mothers may except their sons... or they may not. Anything could happen!


**Me: Hey! You! Guess what!**

**The little voice inside my head: What?**

**Me: I don't own Danny Phantom!**

**TLVIMH: What? You don't. Well, then. What now?**

**Me: Hmmm… since there aren't going to be any new episodes anytime in the foreseeable future, maybe I should write a fanfic about it?**

**TLVIMH: That sounds like an awesome idea! {Queue really long A.N!}**

**I have found that, in the world of DP fanfic, there are 3 stories that I particularly like.**

**1. Any AU story. I don't know why, I just love them.**

**2. Any "Danny gets captured by GIW/his parents and then gets experimented/tortured." Fic. (Personally, there aren't enough out there. If you want to write one and dedicate it to me… well… you wouldn't see me complaining)**

**3. A revile fic. Nice conflicting emotions, big, drawn out, emotional tension, and the possibility it could swing either way. **

**I may, in the future, use this as a place to post my one-shots. For now, it houses this particular attempt. I like to write stories that I would like to see more of. This, someday, could quite possibly hold one-shots about the three listed above, the "Danny and his class get stranded in the ghost zone", and possibly even some Vlad-the-good-guy stories. –Gasps from the crowd- I know, right?**

**But that may or may not play out sometime in the future. No guarantees, okay?**

**Enjoy the show!**

**0000000000**

**Danny's POV**

I flew towards the center of the city, my eyes scanning the surrounding area for any ghosts. It was about 1 o'clock in the morning, and I couldn't help but sigh when I realized that my homework was still sitting, half done, on my desk. So much for staying on top of my classes this year. When I had finally decided that the town was safe for now, I turned and headed for home. I'm probably not going to be able to sleep now, I thought, and touched down in The Park.

I made my way over to the highest hill, and flopped down into the grass, gazing at the stars. My whole body ached from the fight that had torn me away from my homework, the annoying yet surprisingly persistent Skulker. I could already feeling the cuts, bruises, and burns healing, but they would still hurt until morning. I shook my head, and tried to turn my thoughts to better things, like the constellations shining above my head. I grinned as I remembered what it had been like in space, and now that I had a taste of it I was more sure than ever I wanted to be an astronaut.

My smile faded as I thought about all the things stopping me. My bad grades, for one. You can't be an astronaut with a 2.5 grade point average. Another thing, my ghost powers. I knew that my body temperature was lower than a normal human's, and so was my heart rate. Hell, my heart didn't even beat when I was in my ghost form. I healed at an unusually fast rate, and although I had become more muscular, I wasn't sure if I was still aging or not. I'm sure they tested your physical condition when you became an astronaut, and even if I told them my secret, they probably wouldn't be too happy about having a half-ghost on board.

So much for attempting to relax before going back home, I thought, sighing. I closed my eyes, thinking, when I heard a very familiar sound. It was the charging of an ecto-weapon, and it was very close. Then I heard the last thing I wanted to at that time; My mom's voice.

"Freeze, you ectoplasmic scum."

**00000000000**

**Maddie's POV**

My eyelids slowly fluttered open, and I sighed when I realized what had caused me to wake. My husband was snoring like a chainsaw, taking up most of the bed as usual. I tried to turn over and fall back asleep, but that persistent sound of snoring kept me from it. I pulled myself out of bed, and groaned when I stood up. As fit as I am, I was not as young as I'd like to think, and my aching body could testify to that. I slipped out of my pajamas and into my regular jumpsuit, thinking I would go for a walk. The park wasn't that far away from our house, and it had the prettiest view this time of night. I would go up to the roof, except for that huge neon sign, that Jack had just insisted on installing, made it impossible to see the stars.

I crept past my slumbering daughter and son's rooms, careful not to wake them. Lately I had noticed that Danny had been looking more tired than usual, and his grades had plummeted. I had to talk to him, tell him that if he wanted to be an astronaut, he was going to have to pull his grades up, but he had just mumbled okay and went up to his room, looking depressed. I tried again to talk to him about it later, but Jazz had quickly changed the subject. I suspected that something was going on with Danny, something that Jazz knew about, but I hoped that my children would trust me enough to tell me what it was someday.

I made my way across town, to the small splash of green in an urban landscape. The street lights were softly shining, making the park have a slightly magical feel. I headed towards the highest hill in the park, the place where Jack and I used to take the kids before they got caught up in being teenagers. I sighed. I just wish they would trust me.

As I neared the hill, I saw a glow coming from the top. Unlike the streetlights, which had a definite yellow tinge, this one seemed purely white. I pulled the medium-sized ecto-gun out of my jumpsuit, instantly recognizing the aura of a ghost. The thought that something so foul was tainting a place where I had so many good memories in disgusted me. I reached the top of the hill, staying low to the ground so it didn't see me, but stopped in surprise when I saw who-, which ghost it was. Phantom, the most confusing ghost I had ever encountered, was laying on the ground staring at the sky. I was about to jump it, but for stopped myself, deciding to appraise the situation before going in, guns blazing. I observed it, taking in all the details to be recorded in my case files later.

I was surprised how much it looked like my son, a regular teenage boy. But the unearthly glow and vibrant green eyes gave it away for what it truly was, a ghost. Nothing more than a past consciousness, imprinted into ectoplasm, mimicking human thoughts and emotions. This particular ghost probably hadn't been more than 14 years old when it had died. It was sad, a person's memory being used like this. I was surprised at how human it looked, though. Most ghosts you see signs of a partial imprinting; green skin, disfigurement, some sort of ecto-wild card. But Phantom had flesh-colored skin, nose, mouth, ears, it appeared that he had probably close to a full imprentation, except for the eyes and hair. I wondered if it even had memories of its consciousness, who it had been when it had died.

I saw him close his eyes, and took this as my chance. I crept up to him, and waited until I was standing over him to charge up my ecto-gun, and spit out my usual insult.

"Freeze, you ectoplasmic scum."

**000000000**

**Danny's POV**

I opened my eyes to my mom standing over me, a gun pointed at my head. _Crud_, I thought as I attempted to create a plan to get out of this.

"Hands above your head." She said in a threatening voice. Wow, Mom could be scary when she wanted to. I slowly dragged my heads from behind my head to above it. I'm probably going to have to talk myself out of this.

"Whoa there Maddie, please don't shoot me." I attempted to sound as scared as possible."Shut up." She snarled. "You have no right to call me anything less than Dr. Fenton." If my heart was beating, it would have been threatening to burst out of my chest.

"Okay, Dr. Fenton, can I sit up?" I asked. She looked conflicted before nodding. I sat up, crossing my legs and staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Don't try anything." She warned.

"I'm not going to." I informed her. I made a split second decision in my head. I was tired of all the lying, all the deceit in my house. I was tired of getting harsh lectures when I came home past curfew, when I got an F on a test, when I got detention for falling asleep in class. "I'll tell you what, ask me any question, and I promise I will answer you truthfully." I saw her skeptical expression. "Oh, come on, wouldn't you like to know more about me before you kill me?" I was just too tired to care tonight.

She narrowed her eyes at me before pulling a notepad and a pencil out of one of the many pockets on her jumpsuit. She then attempted to continue pointing the gun at me, trying not to take her eyes off of me, while also finding a blank page in the note book, pulling out the pen, and writing something down. I sighed. "You can sit down you know." I informed her. She looked as me suspiciously. "I'm not going to hurt you. I would tell you to put the gun down except for the fact that I know you won't listen." I was surprised when she sat down, lowering her aim to my chest, and used her knee to balance the note pad on.

"What is your name?" She asked me.

"Phantom." I replied.

"How old are you?"

"Do you mean when I died or right now?" I said.

"Both." I laughed. She sounded so serious, and I think my nerves where getting the best of me.

"Sorry." I apologized. "I was 14 when I died, I'm 15 now."

She scribbled the information down. "Do you remember how you died?"

"Yes." She waited for more, but sighed when I left it at that.

"How did you die?"

I paused, thinking of a true answer that wasn't going to give me away. "Accident."

"What kind of accident?"

"Electrocution." I winced, remembering that day. She continued to write it down. I noticed her other arm relaxing, the gun now pointed towards my lower stomach.

"Do you remember when you were human?"

"Yes." I replied.

"What is your obsession?"

I swallowed, uncomfortable. Growing up with ghost hunting parents your entire life, I knew almost everything there was to know about ghosts. For weeks after the accident, I had worried over becoming evil, losing myself, hurting the ones I loved. I had told Tucker and Sam that each ghost has an obsession, something they had to do in order to remain fully formed, and had spent countless nights dreading finding out if I had one or not, and if I did, what it was.

Weeks passed, and I fought my first big ghost, The Lunch Lady. After I had won, I came to the conclusion that I might not have an obsession, that because I was still part human, I didn't need one. It wasn't until ten defeated ghosts later Sam suggested that it was, in fact, saving the town. I had rejected the idea for a few days, then, after a lot of convincing from my two best friends, admitted that they might be right. Jazz said what I had was a "Hero Complex", that, coupled with my ghost side, had created my obsession to protect the town. It was as though I took personal responsibility for any bad thing that happened. I read about a girl dying in a car accident, and felt as though it was my fault. I knew, deep down in my heart, that if I had to give up my life to save one person, I wouldn't even have to think about it. I looked back up at my mom, and saw her studying me.

"To protect the town." I finally replied. I could see the surprise in her face. "I… feel this enormous sense of guilt anytime something bad happens here. Even sometimes while it's happening, I'll _feel_ it."

She looked confused. "Ghosts aren't supposed to feel guilt. Just anger, sadness, and happiness. That's it." She stared at me, with this look like I had just turned her world upside-down.

"Yeah, well," I chuckled at her, running my hand through my hair."Tell that to my emotions."

"And there's something about you too…" She suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Hey!" I yelled out in protest, only to notice she had dropped the gun.

"Your warm." Her lavender eyes flashed at me, the same look I knew when she was on to something. She felt my hand. "I can feel muscles, bones, skin, tendons," She laughed. It was really creepy. "You're almost human, more human than any other ghost I've studied." She studied my face. "And there's something familiar about you…"

I panicked, and scooted away from her. It was as though she was looking through me._ Nice going, Fenton,_ I told myself,_ Maybe these questions weren't such a good idea, after all. _She stared at me, and I took a deep breath in, human habit, and held it. _Come on, you fight ghosts all day. You've defeated Vlad, countless times, Pariah Dark, your future evil self, you can do this. Just tell her._ I let out my breath.

"Have you ever heard of a halfa?" I asked her, my voice attempting to be strong, but ending up weak and scared. Her brow furrowed.

"I've heard a couple of the ghosts you fight call you that, yes." She replied. "What does it mean?"

"It's a slur, like an insult." I informed her. "They are calling me lower than them, not all…" I trailed off.

"Half-a… Does it have something to do with the fact that you seem more human than them?" Wow, she was good.

"Do you think… that it could be possible for a half-ghost half-human to exist?" I questioned, my voice squeaking like a mouse. She laughed.

"Of course not, that's impossible. Ghosts are just human consciousness imprinted into ectoplasm. A human is a living, breathing, person. A ghost is just left over energy." She said.

"But if it were possible…" I encouraged her to keep going.

"If it were possible, you would have to have large amounts of energy and ectoplasm at the same time along with a shock and a near death experience to fuse it together in one living receptacle where the ectoplasm covers the basic DNA recoding." She said it all in one breath. "The energy created inside the human body would be too much. The person would die. Unless…" She stopped, and I could see her thinking it over in her head. For someone as smart as her to have lived with me all this time and not figure out my secret…

"Unless?" I asked her.

"Unless that energy created another form." She gasped. "That form would have the same human consciousness, imprinted into the ectoplasm, and that person would be in control of both their halves. The energy of the second form could be stored inside of a human in the form of a ghost core." She stared at me. "Half-a… half ghost?"

"Half human." I confirmed. My hands felt like they were shaking. She was about to find out.

"Who's your human form?" I could see the excitement in her eyes. "Who are you?"

I took another unnecessary deep breath. "Promise you won't hate me?" I asked her.

"Why would I hate you?" She asked me, puzzled.

I stood up, not believing I was about to do this, and activated my core. I found that one warm spot in a sea of cold, letting it wash over me. The white rings appeared around my middle, and traveled up my body. I took deep, now necessary breaths, as the weird sensation of my heart beating again traveled up and down my body. I finally looked up into my mom's lavender eyes.

**000000000**

**Maddie's POV**

"I've heard a couple of the ghosts you fight call you that, yes." I replied. "What does it mean?" I couldn't believe I was talking to this ghost. A ghost with emotions, no less. I could see that it was conflicted over something, like I had been when it had offered to answer my questions.

"It's a slur, like an insult." It informed me. "They are calling me lower than them, not all…" It trailed off. That caught my attention. This meant that the other ghosts had alienated him for some reason.

"Half-a… Does it have something to do with the fact that you seem more human than them?" I think I was on to something here. A new type of ghost perhaps? I know about the different powers different specters have, perhaps it's something like that.

"Do you think… that it could be possible for a half-ghost half-human to exist?" He asked me. I just started flat-out laughing. What a ridiculous notion.

"Of course not, that's impossible. Ghosts are just human consciousness imprinted into ectoplasm. A human is a living, breathing, person. A ghost is just left over energy." I explained to him. It was possible, if the other ghosts had alienated him he may not know about these sorts of things. Wait a minute, he? When did I start referring to it as he?

"But if it were possible…" He, -I mean-, it, pressed me further.

"If it were possible, you would have to have large amounts of energy and ectoplasm at the same time along with a shock and a near death experience to fuse it together in one living receptacle where the ectoplasm covers the basic DNA recoding." I thought it through in my head. What he was suggesting was- "The energy created inside the human body would be too much. The person would die. Unless…" I thought it out more. He was a lot more human than any other ghost I'd seen. Realization dawned on me.

"Unless?" He asked me.

"Unless that energy created another form." I gasped. "That form would have the same human consciousness, imprinted into the ectoplasm, and that person would be in control of both their halves. The energy of the second form could be stored inside of a human in the form of a ghost core." I stared at him, unable to believe what I was suggesting. "Half-a… half ghost?"

"Half human." He confirmed. I couldn't believe it. What this meant for the scientific community! The research this could spawn… what did this mean about all ghosts? Could they retain certain human emotions? Could… not all ghost be evil?

"Who's your human form?" I said with excitement. "Who are you?"

He took another breath. It must be a habit from his human side. "Promise you won't hate me?" He asked me.

"Why would I hate you?" I answered his question with a question. Why would my opinion matter?

He rose to his feet in front of me, looking unsteady and nervous, eyes trained on the ground. A pair of growing rings appeared around his middle, one traveling up his body, the other traveling down. Black and white jumpsuit gave way to jeans, a white t-shirt, and red sneakers. His white hair turned black, and he looked up at me, his vibrant, acid green eyes now a familiar baby blue.

I was looking into the face of my son, Danny.

If I wouldn't have been sitting down, I probably would have collapsed. Danny… he was half ghost. He was _the_ half ghost I had been trying to kill for years. Oh, God, I had shot at my son. I had told him I wanted to dissect him, I had called him countless names.

"Mom?" Danny asked me, concern in his voice. He was standing well away from me. Scared of me, I'm sure. "Mom, say something." Danny's voice rose.

"Oh, God." Was all I could get out. I could feel the tears running down my face. All those times he had come home, bruised, battered, tired, he had been fighting ghosts, trying to protect this town. I saw Danny's face fall when I said that. He took a step away from me.

"Danny, can you ever forgive me?" I asked him, choking back a sob. "I am so, so, sorry. All those times I shot at you, and…" I couldn't even finish the sentence. His face seemed to light up.

"You… you're not mad at me?" He asked. "You don't hate me?" He whispered the last question.

"How could I ever hate you? You're my son. My baby. I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me." I turned my eyes back down towards the ground. I was shocked when I felt Danny embrace me in a hug.

"I thought you wouldn't except me." He said. "I thought you would only see Phantom."

"Danny, Phantom is you. I could never see it any other way."

**00000000**

**Danny's POV**

I grabbed my mom's hand and pulled her up from the ground. We smiled at each other, before she got serious.

"Tell me everything. How did this happen? Was it our fault?" She asked.

"No, no. It was my fault, if anything." I ran my hand through my black hair. "You remember how, when you guys first built the portal, it didn't work?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Yeah, well, I found out why it didn't work. Dad built an on/off switch."

"He did?"

"Yeah, on the _inside_ of the portal." I rolled my eyes. Dad could be such an idiot sometimes. My mom put her hand over her mouth.

"So you were inside the portal when it turned on? What happened next?" She questioned me.

"Do you think we can wait until we get home?" I yawned. "I should probably get some sleep for school tomorrow." Mom and I turned towards our house and started walking. The park really did look magical tonight. A mist-like fog had rolled in, making each street light glow. The trees cast shadows, twisted and dark, but tonight they were old, and wise looking. An idea popped into my head, and I stopped walking. My mom turned back to look at me with concern.

"What is it Danny?" She asked me.

"Mom," I looked over at her and grinned devilishly, "Have you ever wanted to fly?

**0000000000**

**Whew! 3,575 words later, we have the longest chapter I have ever written. **

**So, let me know what you think…**

**Was the switching POV okay? Too confusing? How was my explanation of Danny's condition? I attempted to make it sound realistic, but let me know what you thought! Constructive criticism greatly appreciated!**

**Also, if you think I should write more one-shots on this story, review with the story you think I should write about next! I'm always up for a challenge! Except when I'm not!**

**Anywho! If you want more, I have one other in progress fic, Running Away. If not, I appreciate you taking the time to read the crazy author's note!**

**Later Gator,**

**NerdyWriterGirl**


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